Barca Still Monopolise Spanish National Team

The rest of the starting lineup was made up of two players from Chelsea, one from Arsenal and just Sergio Ramos from Real Madrid.

Halftime introductions of Gerard Pique and David Villa saw nine Barcelona players used in total, a record amount for the Spanish national team.

In a country where the regional sports newspapers are constantly trying to get one up on each other, this matters.

The Spanish champions from Madrid may point to the injured Xabi Alonso and Iker Casillas for backup, but the truth at the moment—and for the foreseeable future—is that Barca's players are much more important to the national team.

Del Bosque Ties Mark for Most Games in Charge of Spain

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This was Vicente del Bosque's 68th game in charge of Spain, equaling the most games totaled by any previous La Roja manager— the other is former national coach Ladislao Kubala, who gave Del Bosque his international debut in 1975.

[The record] is something which was unthinkable for me, but I want to say that what Kubala did gets more merit. In his time we played much fewer games each year. We played 16 games in 2012. He was coach for a decade.

With a European Championship and World Cup already won by the Real Madrid boss, it's questionable how much the record will register with him.